California Bound
by SunsetsandSunrise
Summary: Emily gets accepted into Stanford alongside Paige, giving them the opportunity to go on a roadtrip across the country to California. "You, me, donuts and diners." What does each state have in store for them? *Slight AU* Paily. Fluff.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N:**__ The lack of Paily fluff in my other stories is bumming me out, and I have writers block on them. So here's a little something I thought of in the shower (this is where I get all the good ideas, unfortunately I almost always forget them because I have nowhere to write them down on the spot. Because water.) Anyways, the __**slight AU **__is that Emily never injured her shoulder, she got accepted to Stanford, and she didn't let Alison totally play with her mind. This is set after graduation. Enjoy, hopefully.  
_

* * *

_July_ _7, 9:05 pm._

_Rosewood, PA_

"Pull over."

Paige glances at Emily in confusion as she unbuckles her seat belt, "What, why?" She hesitantly pulls onto the side of the road, her eyes darting around the dark woods. "In case you don't remember, good things never happen to us in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere."

"This will only take a second." Emily glances at her in amusement, "and I would hardly call 9 pm the middle of the night."

She sighs; unbuckling her own seat belt as Emily frantically searches the glove compartment. The cars' headlights illuminate the rundown "Welcome to Rosewood" sign.

_Welcome to Rosewood_, she scoffs, _more like Welcome to Hell._

Emily holds up her digital camera in triumph, "Got it." She opens her door, shivering slightly.

"Is this really necessary Em?" Paige hurriedly climbs out of the car, joining her girlfriend as she turns the silver rectangle in her hand on.

"I just want to capture this moment, the start of our new beginning."

"We could just get a postcard you know."

Emily rolls her eyes, setting the camera down on the hood of her car, the self-timer set to two minutes. "But it wouldn't be the same without your beautiful face on it."

"There's always photoshop." Paige says hopefully, sighing in defeat when Emily chuckles and grabs her arm, pulling her towards the wooden sign.

She stands next to Emily, her arm around her shoulder as she plasters a fake smile on her lips for the camera. "When is that thing going to go off?" She mutters under her breath, impatient to get the shot over with. As much as she loves the fact that Emily is just as excited about their trip as she is, being out in the dark, especially in Rosewood, still made her nervous. It'd be pointless trying to hide that from Emily, she could read her better than anyone else.

Warm hands grip her cheeks as Emily turns her to face her, "Is this really that bad?"

Her shoulders relax as Emily rubs her thumbs slowly over her cheeks, momentarily shoving her fear away as she gazes into Emily's concerned eyes. It really wasn't that bad, not as long as she had Emily with her. She'd go through anything as long as it meant having Emily at her side. "No, it really isn't." She smiles as she leans forward to peck Emily's lips lightly, the flash of the camera going off as they press their foreheads together. Paige glances anxiously behind Emily as they pull apart. "But next time could you maybe pick a more romantic place to 'capture moments'?"

Emily laughs quietly, kissing her once more before leading her back to the car, "I'll keep that in mind."

Paige chuckles as Emily grabs the camera and smiles warmly at her as she opens the passenger door, holding it open as Emily climbs in. She hurries to the other side of Emily's car, climbing in and shutting the door.

"You'll be glad to know it came out perfect." Emily shows the picture to her. They're standing in front of the sign, smiling as they stare into each other's eyes. Emily's hands are pressed to Paige's cheeks as she holds her close, her arms wrapped around Emily's waist.

"It did." She leans over to kiss Emily's cheek, settling back against the seat and putting her seat belt on, "Which is good because I am _so _not going back out there." She starts the car to make her point, glancing at Emily who's still looking at the picture. "Em, you okay?"

Emily shakes her head as she turns the camera off and puts it away. "I still can't believe this is happening." She meets Paige's eyes, "this is really happening, right? I'm not going to wake up and realize that this was all a dream?"

"Do you want me to pinch you?" Paige teases.

Emily gives her a small smile, her eyes watering.

She takes Emily's hands in hers, giving her a real answer. "This is real Emily. This isn't a dream. This is really us, leaving Rosewood, going away and starting our own lives away from this place. No more A." She rubs her thumbs soothingly over Emily's knuckles. "No more worrying all the time or being afraid of the dark. It's just us. Just us, the road and the countless Britney Spear songs you plan on torturing me with."

Emily laughs, a tear running down her cheek as she stares at the brown eyed girl gazing back at her with so much love it makes her pulse race. "Beyonce." She corrects, smiling as Paige softly brushes away her tears.

"No I saw your iPod." Her eyebrows furrow in mock despair, "You're planning on torturing me with Britney Spears, Beyonce, Rihanna, Demi-"

"Hey you love Demi!" Emily retorts.

"Yeah but that's beside the point." She smirks, pressing her lips against Emily's pouty ones. "The point is that you'll have total control over the music and I'm going to allow that because I love you." She actually didn't mind any of Emily's music, and if she was being complete honest with herself she'd admit that she knew every single word of every song. Of course she would never admit it out loud, which was probably why Emily was doing it. She knew Paige liked the songs, and she would get her to admit it one way or the other.

Emily taps Paige's nose lightly with her fingertip, both of them wearing identical smiles. "In that case I might go easy on you."

"_Might." _Paige's smile falters in faux-disappointment. "Darn I thought that would work," She mutters under her breath causing Emily to roll her eyes. She puts the car in drive, "Are you ready?"

"More than ready."

They smile at each other, both eager to leave Rosewood and their pasts behind. They know they can't escape forever; they still have their friends and family to think about and eventually visit. And no matter how far away they go, Rosewood will always be there; the scars imbedded into their hearts and minds. Everything they've been through and everything they've survived will always be there to remind them of how far they've come.

Paige pulls the car back onto the road, taking Emily's hand in hers.

"I love you Paige."

She glances at Emily as she smiles, letting her gaze linger longer than is deemed safe as she drives past oncoming traffic. "I love you too." Her eyes flit back to the road, missing Emily's mischievous smirk.

"Now about that torture."

Paige groans as Beyonce's "Crazy In Love" fills the car.

* * *

_June 31, 12 pm_

_Rosewood, PA_

"_You're not really leaving me with these two are you?!" Hanna exclaims._

"_I'll pretend I didn't hear that." Aria mutters._

"_No offense, but I sooo don't want to spend the summer with you and Spencer." She huffs as she plops down on Emily's bed._

_Emily watches in amusement as her friends bicker, trying her best to stay out of it as she continues packing her bags. Paige and her were leaving in less than a week, giving them both enough time to get their things ready._

"_I find that offensive." Aria retorts with a roll of her eyes._

"_I'm sorry. But I don't want to spend my afternoons watching Pride & Prejudice with you and Ezra."_

_Spencer snorts as Aria frowns. "Okay we do not spend our afternoons watching Pride & Prejudice…we watch movies at night."_

"_Like that's any better." Hanna grumbles. _

"_Wait why don't you want to spend it with me?" Spencer questions._

"_Because you'll probably spend it with your tongue down Toby's throat!" _

_Emily laughs as Spencer rolls her eyes, "Okay first of all that's not possible. My tongue is not that long. Second-"_

"_Hey." _

_They all turn as Paige hesitantly walks into Emily's room, waving at them. "Your mom let me in…I'm not interrupting am I?" _

"_Not at all." Emily walks over to her, kissing her lips softly, "You actually just saved us from a Hastings speech." _

"_Okay I find _that_ offensive." Spencer huffs, clearly annoyed at being double teamed._

"_Anyways you won't be alone Han." Emily points out, handing Paige a small black box. "You're spending the summer with Caleb in New York aren't you?"_

_Spencer narrows her eyes as she watches the exchange, Hanna and Aria too distracted to notice._

"_Well yeah but he's not coming back from California until August. What am I suppose to do until then?"_

_Emily opens her mouth to reply, she feels bad for Hanna, she really does. But staying behind in Rosewood isn't something she wants to do. She's waited four years for this moment. For freedom. _

_As for the rest of the girls; Spencer was leaving for Spain in two weeks, in the meantime, like Hanna had pointed out, she'd probably spend every possible minute with Toby. Aria was staying behind with Ezra, but of course Hanna would feel like the third wheel. That left her about a month until Caleb came back, a month she'd have to spend either alone or with Aria. Or with Alison. _

"_What's that?" She looks as Spencer points at Paige's hands._

"_It's a tracker." Paige twirls the small box between her fingers._

"_It's not a tracker, exactly." Emily rolls her eyes at Paige's smirk. "It's a diagnostic system_ _device. You plug it into the car and it monitors the mileage usage and-"_

"_And it shows our location on an app… that both Mr. Fields and my dad have on their phones." Paige smirks again, "So in other words, it's a tracker." _

_Spencer nods in understanding, "So that's what finally convinced them to let you two go on this roadtrip."_

"_Pretty much." _

_Paige had shown the device to their dads a few days ago. After days of failing to convince them to let them go, Paige had pulled an all-nighter googling ways to get them to agree. She stumbled upon the device just as she was about to give up. After an intense talk with their parents a day later, explaining in very precise detail how the device worked, they had finally agreed, trusting Paige and Emily to be responsible on the road. And of course making them promise to never remove the device._

"_I'm gonna go install it in your car." She nods as Paige grabs her car keys, watching her girlfriend until she disappears down the hall._

"_So it's really happening huh?" Spencer questions, her eyes fixed on Emily's smile, which hasn't left her lips since Paige arrived, "You and Paige on your way to Stanford."_

"_Ready to take over the Cardinals swim team." Aria adds._

_Emily's sure her happiness is evident in her face. She wants this. She wants to spend the next four years swimming for Stanford, Paige by her side, both in and out of the water._

"_Yeah, it really is happening." _

* * *

_Hope you guys like it, should I continue, yay or nay?  
if yay, let's join Paily on a roadtrip yeah?  
_

_Tell me what you think :)_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N:**__ Thank you all so much for the lovely reviews, they mean a lot to me. Hopefully this story is as good as you hope. Here's a little rest-stop/flashback before we head into the actual roadtrip (I'll explain why at the end). Enjoy :) _

* * *

_July 8, 1:20 am_

_Renaissance Pittsburg Hotel_

_Pittsburgh, PA_

She wraps her arms around Emily's waist; a small smile tugs on her lips when Emily leans back into her. Her chin rests on Emily's shoulder, her palms flat against her stomach. She can feel the slow rise and fall of Emily's abdomen as she sighs deeply, her reflection on the window in front of them smiles as Paige place a small kiss to her exposed neck.

Emily hums in content as Paige continues to kiss along her neck, smirking as Emily shivers when she nibbles on her ear lobe.

"I thought you said you were tired." Emily teases, her fingers sliding easily between Paige's. A perfect fit.

Her arms tighten around Emily, pulling her closer against her as she smirks, "I _was_ tired. But then you had to go and put this on." She tugs on the silky material of Emily's night gown, letting her fingertips graze her exposed skin. "If you're gonna wear stuff like this to bed I don't think we'll be getting much sleep."

She smiles when Emily laughs; it's definitely her favorite sound, along with her voice. She loves everything about Emily actually. Her _eyes_, they were like melted chocolate orbs that she would gladly stare into for eternity.

"This is…wow."

Paige watches Emily's reflection as she stares at the city below them, her eyes taking in every detail in the stunning city around her; from the shimmering river and the bridge that crosses it, to the dimly lit streets buzzing with quite activity despite the late hour. It's almost as if she doesn't want to miss a single thing.

They're in the fourteenth floor of the historic Renaissance hotel. When they had entered the lobby she had seen the way Emily stared at the hotel in awe. She would have admired the hotel herself if she hadn't been too busy watching her.

She loved the way Emily's eyes seemed to sparkle with child like wonder as she took in every detail of the lobby. The marble walls and glass dome ceiling seemed to blow her away. She had stopped in the middle of the lobby as she looked around her in amazement, causing Paige to crash into her. The hotel was a mix of classic and modern, with its classic architecture, sleek furniture and art. She had sat one of the couches, her eyes flitting from one small detail to another while Paige had gone to check them in.

"Yeah, it is wow." She looks around as the city lights reflect on the river that hugs Pittsburg, one of the three rivers that is. "You see that bridge?" She points to the yellow bridge that runs across the water. Emily nods, grabbing Paige's hand and pulling it back against her stomach. "It's the Roberto Clemente Bridge, the river that runs underneath it is the Allegheny River."

Emily bits her lip, holding back a smile as she runs her fingers over Paige's hand. "The Roberto Clemente Bridge?" She can feel Paige's head move up and down against her shoulder as she nods. "Why's it called that?"

She smirks when Paige stays quite for a couple seconds. "It's named after the guy that built it…probably."

Emily laughs, "Probably huh?"

"Yes probably." She closes her eyes as Paige playfully bites down on her neck. "I didn't google that."

Emily laughs at Paige's reluctant admittance. She had caught Paige in her room before they left googling random facts about each state they would travel through.

She turns around in Paige's grasp, her fingertips tracing the necklace around Paige's neck. The gold shark and crystal globe that rests between her collar bones shines against the rooms light. The instant Emily saw it she knew she had to get it for Paige. She meets her eyes and smiles, "You're such a dork."

Paige dips her head as she chuckles, causing Emily to smile wider. Her heart still races every time she realizes she gets to spend more than a month with Paige. Just the two of them. No distractions. No worries. Just the two of them, alone.

"Come on, let's get some sleep." She lets go of the small shark and takes Paige's hand as she leads her towards the king size bed.

Paige quirks her eyebrow, eyeing Emily's outfit suggestively, "Sleep you say?"

She laughs loudly as Paige tackles her playfully onto the bed.

* * *

_May 15, 7 pm_

_Rosewood, PA_

"_Surprise!"_

_Paige looks around her in confusion, startled by the numerous amounts of people scattered around her backyard. Dim lights are strung from the trees and balloons strapped to various objects float aimlessly with the warm wind. A "Happy Birthday!" banner hangs between two trees, underneath it a large table is overflowing with food. A lot of different decorations hang all over her backyard actually. A lot of them._

_This was definitely not her parents' idea. They usually settled for dinner at a fancy restaurant and an expensive gift that usually had to do with swimming or was for "her future."_

_She waves awkwardly at the crowd of people smiling at her, which she soon realizes is practically everyone from school. A shy smile forms on her lips as they begin to talk amongst each other, her eyes searching for the master mind behind this whole thing. _

_She jumps, startled as warm hands wrap around her waist._

"_Happy birthday Paige." Emily whispers softly in her ear, making her shiver involuntarily. _

"_So _this_ is why you were so jumpy all week." She turns around to face her girlfriend, snaking her arms around Emily's waist as Emily's arms rest on her shoulders. "I thought it was something else. I was beginning to worry."_

"_You worry too much."Emily tease, kissing her lips lightly. _

_She gives Emily a pointed look, "Well I have reason to."_

_Emily sighs, brushing loose strands of hair behind Paige's ear, "Let's not worry about that tonight, okay?" She looks around her as people laugh and dance, "Tonight's your night. So just worry about having fun."_

"_I don't even know half these people." She frowns as a short redheaded boy jumps into the pool. Fully clothed. Dirty shoes included. She was definitely going to have to clean the pool later._

"_I know. I'm sorry. When I told Hanna about this she decided to go all out. I was just planning on inviting the swim team and your friends but," She shrugs helplessly, "you know Hanna."_

"_Speak of the devil." Paige mock-glares at Hanna as she approaches them, the blonde simply laughing in response. She reluctantly lets go of Emily as Hanna engulfs her in a hug. _

"_Happy birthday Paigey-waigey." _

_Emily laughs and shrugs as Paige looks at her in confusion and mouths "Paigey-waigey?"_

"_Thanks Hanna." She smirks as she pulls away from her, seeking refuge from Hanna's death grip by hurrying to Emily's side. "I appreciate all this…but you're helping me clean the pool." She points as a group of what appear to be freshmen decide to have a food fight across the pool, most of the food falling into the previously clean water._

"_What?! I didn't even invite _them."

_She smirks as Hanna storms off, yelling at the kids to leave immediately. _

_Emily shakes her head with a smile as she takes Paige's hand, pulling her away before Hanna returns. She leads her towards the house and up to Paige's room. The pounding music is muffled as she closes the door, Paige's lips meeting hers hungrily the instant she turns around. _

_They stumble back into Paige's soft bed, their lips breaking apart as they laugh softly._

"_I've been waiting to do that all day," Paige admits, running her hand slowly over Emily's back._

"_Guess I better stop keeping you waiting then. It is your birthday after all." She grins as Paige's eyes flick to her lips. "Although I should probably give you your present first." _

"_Being with you on my birthday is the best present ever. Trust me." She leans her head towards Emily, expecting their lips to meet. She groans in frustration when Emily pulls back with a smirk on her lips. She was definitely enjoying this too much. "Em."_

_Emily shakes her head slightly as she pulls a small black box from the pocket of her leather jacket, "Patience." She hands Paige the slim box._

"_You're not proposing to me are you?" Paige asks teasingly._

_Emily laughs as she presses her lips against Paige's to hide her burning cheeks, "Just open it."_

_Paige opens the small box carefully, her jaw dropping slightly as she gingerly picks up the small gold shark, its body wrapped around a crystal globe. She runs her fingers slowly over it. "Em, it's beautiful," She whispers. The little shark was wrapped around a blue and green crystal sphere, its tail holding the globe as its jaws opened around it, almost as if it were biting the miniature planet. _

_Emily smiles as she takes the necklace from her hands, motioning for her to turn around. She clasps the ends together, brushing Paige's hair back as she turns to face her again. "Perfect."_

_Paige pulls her into a kiss. Her heart begins beating rapidly as she deepens it, her tongue tracing along Paige's soft lips, silently demanding entrance. Paige parts her lips-_

"_You lovebirds better get your asses back out here before I knock down this door." Hanna pounds on the door as she shouts to be heard over the music from outside. _

_Paige groans as she falls back onto the bed, muttering a quite "Damn you Hanna" before shouting back. "We'll be out in a minute." She swears Hanna purposely ruined moments like these on purpose. _

"_I swear if you two are doing it in there."_

_Emily rolls her eyes, "We'll be right there Hanna!"_

"_And we weren't doing it!" Paige retorts. _

"_Yeah whatever. I've seen Orange is the New Black."Hanna scoffs._

_Paige frowns in confusion, what the hell did that have to do with them? Hanna had definitely been eating too much sugar. _

"_Have you ever made Emily cum 7 times?"_

_Yup, too much sugar._

"_HANNA!" Emily yells in disbelief. She couldn't believe the things that came out of her friend's mouth sometimes. Well…most of the time._

"_Fine I'm leaving. But you better hurry before I decide to eat the cake myself."_

_Emily smacks Paige's shoulders as she laughs, "It's not funny." She bites her lip, trying to hold back a smile._

"_It's pretty funny." Paige smirks as she stands, pulling Emily up._

_They smile before leaning towards each other, their lips meeting once more. Emily pulls back reluctantly after what feels like seconds, grumbling as she tugs Paige towards the door, "We better get back before blonde Hulk comes back."_

_Paige snorts, reaching up to hold the shark pendant between her fingers with her free hand. She dips her head with laugh when Emily turns back to smile at her. This was definitely the best birthday she's ever had._

* * *

_So? What do you guys think? Let me know. _

_Also, quick Q's: Thanks to a certain someone that shall remain anonymous {you know who you are ;) }, I had to re-plan the route I had originally planned for Paily to take, which isn't a bad thing. but I just wanted to know what route you guys think Paily should take. Should they go through the northern states or southern states? Let me know.  
_

_Another quick Q's: Do you see Paige and/or Emily getting a tattoo? If so, what and where?_

_Hope you guys like it and please let me know what you think. :)_

_Quick thanks to _whoopsidaisies for that lovely review on "A is For DeAth", definitely made my day :)


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